The coming crisis in care for the elderly in the United States and Canada

The increasing problem of how to care for the elderly in North America is no secret. Everyone knows the day of reckoning will soon be upon us. We are witnessing a rapidly aging population and a shortage of people to care for them, including shrinking families that provide critical free care. To make matters worse, the US has a bloated deficit and debt, making it increasingly likely that cuts will have to be made to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

"This has national implications!"

Many years ago, when I was just starting New Commandment Men's Ministries, I was in New England at my very first men's conference doing a workshop on men's team ministry to widows, single moms, and others with long-term pressing needs. Suddenly someone interrupted me when he blurted out, "This has national implications!"

He was right. Over the years, we have found that churches that have a men's team ministry for two years or more, average 7 teams of 4 men each, or 28 men, serving an average of 10 widows, single moms, and others with long term pressing needs. There are over 360,000 churches in the US and Canada. If all of them had a men's team ministry, that would be over 10 million men providing consistent years-long care for 3.6 million care receivers.

Not only that, we have also found that every month that a team makes it possible for their care receiver to stay out of assisted living saves them $6,000 or more.

Pastor, your men are an often untapped resource who, when given the right training, can make a significant contribution to this "unsolvable" problem

The Bible provides clear teaching about caring for people with "pressing needs" in our churches and communities (as we see in Titus 3:14; 1 Timothy 5; Acts 20:33-35; 1 John 3:16-18, and many more passages). The problem is that our culture is very different from the culture we see in the Bible (i.e., huge communities that are highly transient and impersonal and that isolate individuals vs. small communities that are personal and interrelated and promote spontaneous interaction). New Commandment provides a model that overcomes our modern culture's shortcomings and makes it possible to show the never-ending love of Christ to people with long-term pressing needs.

You will love it.

Your widows will love it.

Your single moms will love it.

Their fatherless children will love it.

Your men will love it.

Your church will love it.

This post first appeared in New Commandment.org

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